NYC Streets

"L" Streets of New York

Generic Entries

Lettered Avenues.

In the 1811 Commissioners' Plan, First Avenue was the easternmost avenue that would run continuously from New York to Harlem. The four avenues east of First Avenue, which would be interrupted by indentations in the shoreline, were given letter designations. They retain their original names only below 14th Street. The parts of these avenues above 14th Street have all been either renamed or demapped. See Avenue A, etc.

Lettered Streets.

Letter designations were given to a series of short streets laid out in Inwood in the early 1870s. All were renamed in or about 1921. See A Street through D Street and F Street. Apparently there was no E Street.

Street Names

La Marqueta. (part) A municipal market under the Park Avenue railroad viaduct, opened in 1936. It originally extended from 111th to 116th Streets. As of 2004, only the part from 115th to 116th Streets was still in use.

Lafayette Boulevard. (L19-E20) The former name of the part of Riverside Drive from 158th Street to Dyckman Street. It was changed in 1905. See also Boulevard.

Lafayette Place. (E19-E20) The former name of Lafayette Street north of Great Jones Street.

Lagrange Terrace. (M19-E20) A row of eight Greek Revival houses on the west side of Lafayette Street between East 4th Street and Astor Place. Four of the houses survive, at 428-434 Lafayette Street. In the 20th century they were more commonly referred to as Colonnade Row.

Lake Tour Road. (M18-M19) So named by 1765, it began at the present 39th Street and Broadway and ran generally northwest to Ninth Avenue near 42nd Street. Also called simply Tour Road.

Lake's Wharf. (L18) On the Hudson River at the foot of Cedar Street.

Lamartine Place. (M-L19) A row of 18 houses on West 29th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues.

Lambert Street. See Lumber Street (1), now Trinity Place.

Lane from Hoogh Straet. (M17) A lane running from Hoogh (Stone) to Pearl Street between the present Coenties Slip and Hanover Square. The lane was shown on the Castello Plan of 1660 but was closed in 1662.

Lane South of Trinity Church. (E-M18) A lane shown on the 1730 Bradford Map. It was closed in 1739 with the opening of Robinson Street, now Rector Street, which is slightly farther south.

Langs de Wal. (M-L17) On the Selyns list, denoting what is now Wall Street between Broadway and Pearl Street.

Langs Strant. (M-L17)..On the Selyns list. See Strand, Along the. Post lists this as Lang Straut, probably a typo.

Laurens Street. (E-L19) A former name of West Broadway from Canal Street northward. It was changed to South Fifth Avenue in 1870 and merged into West Broadway about 1900. See also Concord Street and Bayard West Farm Grid.

Lawrence Street (1). (E19-E20) Prior to 1923, the name of the present West 126th Street west of Convent Avenue. It is one of the two crosstown streets surviving from the 1806 layout of Manhattanville.

Lawrence Street (2). See Laurens Street.

Lawton Avenue. See West Washington Market (2).

Leanderts or Leander Place. (M-L19) An alley that formerly angled behind 183 to 197 East 7th Street just east of Avenue B. It was also known as East 7th Street Place and St. Bridget's Street. The skewed property line here dates back to 1645.

Leary Street. (M-L18) A name for Cortlandt Street circa 1767.

Leary's Slip. (n.d.) At the foot of Cortlandt Street.

Leather Street. (n.d.) A former name of Jacob Street.

Leisler Street. (E18)..Mentioned in 1724. Probably a part of the present Whitehall Street.

Lenox Avenue. (L19-L20) Sixth Avenue north of Central Park became Lenox Avenue in 1887 and was renamed Lenox Avenue/Malcolm X Boulevard in 1987.

Lenox or Lennox Place. (M-L19) A former name of West 22nd Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues.

Lent's Basin. (M19) Between Broad Street and Coenties Slip.

Leonard Street. (part) From Centre to Baxter Streets was renamed Hogan Place in 1980, but the former name is still often used

Leroy Place. (E-L19) A former name for the block of Bleecker Street between Mercer and Greene Streets.

Lery Street. See Leary Street.

Lewis Street. (part) Initially ran from Grand Street north to Houston Street About 1828 it was extended to East 8th Street between Avenue D and the East River. Nearly all of Lewis Street was demapped in the mid-20th Century for the Baruch, Lillian Wald and Jacob Riis housing projects The only remaining block is that from Grand Street to Delancey Street South.

Leyden Street (1). (n.d.) A former name of Fourth Avenue between 11th and 13th Streets.

Leyden Street (2) or Leyden Place. (L19?-L20) Ran from Teunissen Place to West 225th Street in Marble Hill. Closed in 1969.

Liberty Court. (M-L19?) Rear of 4 and 6 Liberty Place.

Lincoln Place. (L19-L20) An alley on the north side of 118th Street between Third and Lexington Avenues. Circa 1890 it had 14 houses on it.

Linden Place. (L19-E20) First Avenue between East 71st and 72nd Streets.

Lindsey's Wharf. (L18) On the Hudson River at the foot of Liberty Street.

Little Ann Street. See Ann Street (1).

Little Bridge Market. See Exchange Market (1)

Little Catherine Street. See Catharine Street (1).

Little Chappel Street. See Chapel Street (1). The “Little” may have been prefixed to distinguish it from Chapel Street (2).

Little Division Street (1). (M-L18) A former name for Montgomery Street which, like the existing Division Street, was a dividing line between the Rutgers and Delancey farms.

Little Division Street (2). (M18?) According to Post, a former name of Church Street.

Little Dock Street (1). (L18) A former name for Water Street between between Broad Street and Old Slip. Merged into Water Street circa 1793.

Little Dock Street (2). (L18-E19?) According to Post, also a former name of South Street between Whitehall Street and Old Slip.

Little George Street. See George Street (1).

Little Green(e) Street. (E-M19) Name changed to Liberty Place prior to 1850. See also Green Lane (2) and Green(e) Street (3).

Little Queen Street (1) . (E-L18) Became Cedar Street In 1794. Although sometimes just Queen Street, it was usually called Little Queen Street to distinguish it from the older Queen Street (1) that is now part of Pearl Street. See also below.

Little Queen Street (2). (L17) What is now Pine Street is labeled Little Queen Street on the 1695 Miller Plan, probably in error. Note that this and Little Queen Street (1) are combined in a single entry in Stokes' index.

Little Stone Street. (M18) A former name of Thames Street. See also Stone Street (3).

Little Street. (n.d.) According to Post, a former name of Cedar Street between Broadway and the Hudson River. Probably reflects an incomplete labeling of Little Queen Street (1).

Little Street, The. (M17) Ran from Beaver to Marketfield Street between Broad and New Streets.

Little Twelfth Street. (E-M19) So called before the numbered streets of the 1811 grid were divided into east and west. It is now Little West 12th Street.

Little Water Street (1). (L18-M19) Originally a lane leading to the Collect Pond, it ran from Cross Street, between Orange and Pearl Streets, northwest to a dead end in the block between Anthony and Leonard Streets. It was called simply Water Street in 1797, but soon became Little Water Street to avoid confusion with its older and longer namesake. In 1809 it was joined to Anthony Street, but after Anthony was extended east to Cross Street, circa 1817, it was again Little Water Street. It was renamed Mission Place in 1855. The dead end, also known as Cow Bay, was closed in 1867. The remainder of the former Little Water Street was demapped in 1920.

Little Water Street (2). (L18) Became a part of Front Street circa 1793.

Livingston Place (1). (M19-M20) Changed to Nathan D Perlman Place in 1953. See Livingston Place (2).

Livingston Place (2). (M20) On December 3, 1953, in one of the goofier acts of the City Council, it changed the name of Livingston Place (on the east side of Stuyvesant Square) to Nathan D. Perlman Place and simultaneously--perhaps to mollify any offended Livingston descendants--changed the name of Birmingham Street to Livingston Place. The compensation was short-lived. The new Livingston Place was demapped in 1962.

Livingston Street. (E19) A street in the Stuyvesant Farm Grid, parallel to and ten blocks north of Stuyvesant Street.

Locust Street. (L18-E19) A former name of Sullivan Street, prior to 1803.

Loisaida Avenue. See Avenue C.

Lombard Street (1). (L18-E19) An early name for what is now Monroe Street It was known as Lombard Street in 1792, but officially changed to Lombardy Street in 1809 to end confusion with Lumber Street (1). Low's 1807 directory cautioned: "Care should be taken to understand the difference of the spelling of Lombard and Lumber, as the want of attention to this has led many strangers astray." Lombardy Street became Monroe Street in 1831.

London Terrace. (M19-E20) The north side of 23rd Street from Ninth to Tenth Avenue. The row houses of that name were built in 1845 and demolished in the 1920s for the present London Terrace apartments.

Long Bridge. (E-L18) Not a bridge in the modern sense, but a pier at the foot of Broad Street. See Great Dock.

Louisa or Louise Street. (E19) A street in the subdivision of the Kips Bay Farm. It ran from about the present 32nd St and Lexington Avenue to a point on the shoreline east of First Avenue between 30th and 31st Streets.

Love Lane (1). (M-L18) A road on the Rutgers Farm, running on or near the line of the present Henry Street.

Love Lane (2). (L18-E19) An alternate name for Abingdon Road.

Low Avenue. See West Washington Market (2)

Low Avenue. See West Washington Market (2).

Low Water Street (1). (L17-E18) The present Water Street between Coenties Slip and Wall Streets was sometimes so called because it was to be built at the low water mark along the East River.

Low Water Street (2). (E-M18) Washington Street between the Battery and West Houston Street was sometimes so called because it was to be built at the low water mark along the Hudson River.

Lower Hudson Market. See Bear Market.

Lower Manhattan Expressway. (M-L20) An elevated expressway laid out under the direction of Robert Moses. It would have carried traffic from the Manhattan Bridge to the Holland Tunnel, generally along the line of Broome Street. After two decades of bitter controversy, it was demapped in 1969.

Lower Robinson Street. (M18-E19) The part of Robinson Street (1) west of the present West Broadway and the original campus of Columbia College. It was called simply Robinson Street after 1813, when “upper” Robinson Street was renamed Park Place. After 1857, when Columbia moved to 49th Street, Park Place was cut through the former campus and absorbed the rest of Robinson Street.

Low's Lane. (M18?-E19) Also called Steuben Street and Cross Road. Ran from the Eastern Post Road, about the present Lexington Avenue and 41st Street, northwest to the present Broadway between 43rd and 44th Streets. It was closed in 1833.

Low's Wharf. (L18-E19) Just east of Old Slip.

Ludlow Place. (M19-E20) West Houston Street between MacDougal and Sullivan Streets, according to several directories, but Doggett extends it an additional block to Thompson Street.

Ludlows Wharf. (E19) Foot of Grand Street.

Lumber Basin. .(M19)..On the Hudson River from 36th to 43rd Streets. See also Timber Basin.

Lumber Street (1). (L17-M19) So called as early as 1695, it was renamed Trinity Place in 1843. See also below.